Posted on 01/07/2010 5:32:42 PM PST by Palmetto Patriot
TOP GOP HOUSE COMMITTEE HELPING REPUBLICAN ACHIEVE ‘YOUNG GUN’ STATUS IN RACE AGAINST SPRATT
The race for South Carolina’s 5th Congressional District, which has been held by a Democrat for the past 27 years, has now caught the attention of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC).
On Wednesday, the NRCC officially announced that State Sen. Mick Mulvaney (R-Lancaster) was an ‘On the Radar’ candidate in his bid to unseat 14-term Democrat Congressman John Spratt.
“The NRCC is committed to working with Mick Mulvaney as he continues to meet the rigorous goals of the Young Guns program,” NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions said in a statement. “Mick Mulvaney is an accomplished leader for South Carolina, and he already has significant momentum behind his campaign. I am confident that he will be successful in his effort to defeat John Spratt, who is a career politician focused on Wall Street bailouts, a National Energy Tax and a government healthcare takeover, not job creation.”
The Young Guns program was created by Reps. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), and Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) in 2007 to help elect a new generation of Republicans.
The NRCC said Mulvaney has already proven his ability to build a successful campaign structure and achieve important fundraising goals and now faces a new set of rigorous goals toward becoming a Young Gun, which will help him build a competitive, effective and winning campaign.
It was unclear what, exactly, those goals entail, but the State’s John O’Connor Tweeted that being “On the Radar” was the first of three steps in the Young Gun program.
Mulvaney announced his candidacy in October. Spratt confirmed that he would seek re-election two months later.
Back in the early 90s I took a class where one of his younger relatives taught. He couldn’t stand John Spratt because he was fat, bald, and worth 8 million bucks or something close. I would love to see that worthless dim put out to pasture. There are enough fools in this state that love him anyway.
SC-5 will almost certainly go Republican in the first election after Spratt retires, but why wait for that?
The district is becoming, more each year, a suburban Charlotte district. All counties surrounding Mecklenburg (Charlotte’s county) , most in NC but also including York and Lancaster in SC-5, vote strongly GOP at the Presidential level; SC-5 went for W. twice, and for McCain.
Spratt, for reasons unclear to me, hasn’t drawn strong candidates in opposition, but Mulvaney may be an exception. Spratt remains the favorite, due to his long tenure and name recognition, but an upset is not out of the question. Mulvaney needs to tie Spratt to Pelosi, again and again.
I think Spratt has begun drawing stronger opponents, but the last couples cycles have been too rough nationally to really get the seat in play. This year is quite a bit different.
The main reason Spratt hasn’t received much of a challenge is that the SCGOP hasn’t had much of a farm system in the area, from what I can tell. My understanding is that Mulvaney is the first Republican to win that House and now Senate seat in York/Lancaster.
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